Auditing machine



June 3, W. H ROBERTSON AUDITING MAGHNE Fled'June 14, 1924 F'IG. 1

TROY

'lmowtoz William H. Robertson His Patented June 3, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T THE NATIONAL CASI-I REGISTER COMPANY, 0F DAYTON, OHIO, .A` `CORPORATION OF MARYLAND Application led June 14,

This invention relates to auditing machines, and more particularly to machines adapted to receive a plurality of detachable destination devices, such as shown in Letters Patent of the United States, No. l',-

593,599, issued to the present inventor on July 27, 1926, for railroad ticket printing machines.

One object of this invention is to provide 1o a machine which will print the data appearing on each of a plurality of detachable destination devices.

Another object is to so construct the device that the insertion of one of the said l5 devices will operate allthe mechanism of the machine.

l/Vith these and incidental objects in view,

the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations of 2@- parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in appended Vclaims and a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification.

Of said figures:

Fig. l is a section taken through the machine just inside the left hand side frame.

Fig. 2 is a detail Yvienr of the eccentric for controlling the impression hammer.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the machine with the cabinet removed.

Fig. a is a facsimile of a fragment of the detail strip printed by the machine.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the type carried by each of the destination devices'.

r.Fig 6 is Va detail view of the mutilated gear and thecooperating mechanism which feeds the detail strip.

General description i te' number ,of lthe 'ticket issues! the j-price.

that system there are used a plurality ofV 1924. Serial No. 720,049.

There is one of these devices provided for each station to which it may be necessary to issue a ticket.

At the end of any specified period, such as a Week or a month, it is desirable to have the destination devices in each station audited by a representative ofthe railroad company. The machine disclosed in this application is adapted to be used by the auditor to facilitate his work. The machine contains a detail strip suitably supported by storage and'receiving rollers, and fed a certain distance on every operation of the machine. An ink ribbon is provided for inking the type when an impression is to be made. ln addition to this mechanism, there is a consecutive number counter operated to add l on every operation of the machine.

When an audit is to be made, the auditor simply takes the destination devices appropriate to the stations and inserts them, one after the'other, into the auditing machine. The machine is so designed thatthe insertion of a destination device will operate the entire machine to accomplish all the functions thereof.

Destination devices The destination devices adapted tof be used with this machine arev shown and described in detail in the above referred to patent and, therefore, only a very brief description thereof will be included herein. Each ofthe devices` (Fig. l)l comprises a rectangular boX 30, from each side of which projects al pin 31. Extending upwardly from the top of the boX is a key vstem 32 carryingA a cap 33 marked with the Vname of the destination appropriate to the particular device. On its lower surface the device car-Iv ries two electroplates 84 (Fig. 5) adapted to printthe name of the station and the price oftheticket. The devices also carry a plurality of consecutive number type wheels 35 advanced one step for each ticket printed by the device. Twovertical guides 86 and 3? are provided for cooperating with the respective pins 3l or' the destination ,da ice vices and guiding these devices on their insertion.

Detail strip mechanism Then one of the devices is inserted in the auditing machine an impression is taken therefrom onto a detail strip. The mecha'- nism for supporting and feeding the detail strip will now be described. The detail strip 40 is fed from a storage roll 41 loose on a sha-ft 42, supported by the side frame, over a roller 43 loose on a stud 44, then beneath the inserted destination device and over a second roller 45 loose on a stud 46, to a receiving roll 47 loosely mounted on a sha-ft 48 supported by the side frame.

Integral with the receiving roll 47 is a disk 49 which has a flange 50. Cooperating with the inner periphery of the flange 50 is a roller 51 loosely'mounted on a pin carried by a clutch hanger 52, pivoted on the shaft 48. The roller 5l is normally forced toward the left, as seen in Fig. l, by a spring-pressed plunger 53 carried by the hanger 52. `The roller 5l lies between the inner periphe y of the flange 50 and a surface 54 on the hanger 52. When the hangerI 52 is rotated counter-clockwise about the shaft 48, the roller 5l will jam between the surface 54 and the inner periphery of the flange 50 of the disk 49, and rotate the disk and the receiving` roll counter-cloclnvise for the detail strip with the hanger 52. lVhen this hanger is rotated clockwise, however, the roller 5l moves toward the right, against the tension of the plunger 58, into the enlarged portion of the opening between the surface 54 and the flange 50, and will, therefore, have no effect on the receiving roll.

The means for rotating the hanger 52 to advance the detail strip will now be described. The hanger 52 carries a pin 55 which lies in the path of a linger 56 of a mutilated gear 57 loose on the shaft 48. The teeth of this gear mesh with a segment 58 carried on a downwardly extending arm of a bell crank lever 59 loose on a stud 60 supported b v the side frame. The other arm of the bell crank lever 59 is forked as at 6l, at its outer end and is adapted to cooperate with the left hand one of the pins 8l projecting from the sides of each of the destination devices. An arm 62, connected to the bell crank lever 59 by a hub 68, is forked at its outer end similar to the fork 6l to cooperate with the pin 3l on the right hand side of the inserted destination device. l

It can be seen, therefore, from Fig. l that when a destination device is inserted in the auditingmachine, that is, placed in position and pushed downwardly, the upper arm of the bell crank lever 59 and the arm 62 will be rocked clockwise, due to the engagement of the pins 3l with the forked ends 6l. The movement of the bell crank lever, through the segment 58 carried thereby, will rotate the mutilated gear 57 counter-clockwise. As the finger 56 of the mutilated gear is normally in Contact with the pin carried by the hanger 52, this hanger will also be rocked counter-clockwise with the mutilated gear and, as this movement takes place, the roller 5l will become ljammed between the surface 54 and the inside periphery of the flange and will thereby carry the feeding roll 47 counter-clockwise far enough to remove the printed area of the detail strip effected during the last previous operation from beneath the destination device, and provide a blank space on the detail strip to receive the impression from the inserted destination device.

The destination device is inserted in the machine and then removed. lt is evident that as it is removed the pins 3l acting upon the forked ends of the bell crank 59 and arm 62, will return the connected parts to the positions shown in Fig. l. Mechanism is provided for returning the hanger 52 to the position shown in Fig. l, and this mechanism is follows: Loosely mounted on the shaft 48 is a collar 64 having a finger 65 normally in contact with the pin 55 previously described. A torsion spring 67 is coiled around the shaft 48, one end being fastened to the finger 56 of the mutilated gear 57 and the opposite end being fastened to the finger 65 of the collar 64. It is evident, therefore, that when the mutilated gear 57 is positively returned to the position shown in Fig. l, by the withdrawal of the destina-tion device last inserted, the finger 65, being connected to the linger 56 by the spring 67, will cause the hanger 52 to be rotated to its normal position, as shown in Fig. l.

A means is also provided herein for proportionately shortening the distance of feed given to the detail strip as the quantity of paper on the receiving roll increases. The mechanism for accomplishing this function is well known and forms no part of the present invention. An arm 70 (Figs. l and 3) is loose on a stud 7l projecting from the frame, and its end 72 is bent at right angles. rIhe end 72 is normally held in contact with the paper on the receiving roll by a spring 73, stretched between a pin on an arm 74 connected to the arm 70 by a yoke 75, and at its opposite end to a pin projecting from the side frame. The arm 74 carries a roller 76 in the same plane as a tail 77 integral with the hanger 52. Then there is no paper wound on the receivinf*r roll, the parts will occupy the positions shown in Fig. l. As the paper accumulates on the receiving roll, however, the arm 70 will be rocked clockwise, which will also rock the arm 74 to a spring actuated collar 64, the tail 77 of the hanger 52 contacts the roller 7 6 sooner than it would with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 1. It can, therefore, be seen that as the paper on the receiving roll increases, the amount of feed given to the receiving roll, through the member 52, will be proportionately less, thereby maintaining an even spacing of the items on the detail strip. l

Means is provided forinking the type of the destination device when an impression is taken therefrom. Thisconsists of an ink ribbon 66 which passes about a suitable ink roller 68 and is then led upwardly between the platen 95 and the type. Any desired means may be included for feeding the ink ribbon, but as this forms no part of 'the in vention none is shown herein.

Means are also provided to prevent any retrograde movement of the flanged disk 49 and the receiving roller 47 when the hanger 52 is moved clockwise to its normal position after a feeding movement has taken place. The means for accomplishing this object ,comprisesa detent arm 80 loose on a stud 81. The arm 81 carries a roller 83 which normally lies between `the inner periphery of the flange of the disk 49 and a laterally projecting flange 84 of the arm 80.

f The arm carries a roller 82 which rests on the outside of the flange V50 and prevents any elockwise movement ofl said arm. A spring-pressed plunger 85 normally holds the roller .83 in contact with both the flange 50 and the surface 84. It can be seen that when the disk 49 is rotated counter-clockvwise to feed the detail strip, this movement will not affect the roller 83. If, however, as the hanger 52 returns to its normal position, there is any tendency of the disk 49 to be carried with it, the roller 83 will wedge itself between the flange 84 of the detent arm 80 and the inner periphery of the flange 50, thereby preventing any movement of the disk in a 'clockwise direction.

Impression mechanism wardly, upon its insertion in the machine, the bell crank lever-59 is rocked clockwise due to the engagement of the pins 31 with the forked ends 61 of this lever and arm 62. Pivoted to one arm of the bell crank lever 59 is a downwardly extending thrust bar 101 having a shoulder 102 cooperating with a flattened stud 103 carried by the arm v97 of the bell crank lever 9.8.;- The thrust bar 101 normally tends to rockin a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1), due to a spring 104 stretched between the lower end of the thrust bar and a pin on the side frame. VThis movement is, however, prevented by the contact of the lower end of the thrust barl101 with the eccentrically pivoted endof `an arm 105 mounted in the side frame of the machine.

It can be seen from Fig. 1 that as the destination device is pushed downwardly, the thrust bar 101 will rock the arm 97 of the bell crank lever 98 counter-clockwise. Due to the fact, however, that the thrust bar 101 moves downwardly, while the bell crank lever 98 has an arcuate movement about the stud 99, a point will be reached in the operation when the stud 103 will pass out or escape from beneath the shoulder 102 of the thrust bar 101. When this occurs, the bell crank lever 98 which carries the platen 95 will be rapidly rotated in a clockwise direction by a spring 106 stretched between an extension 107 of the bell crank lever 98 and a pin projecting from the frame. The platen 95, being thus released, will strike the detail strip and take an impression from the type of the inserted destination device on the strip.` V

An, adjustment is provided to vary the pointat which the shoulder 102 of the thrust bar 101 will pass out or escape from contact with the stud 103. 1n order to accomplish this function, one end ofthe arm 105, above mentioned, is eccentrically mounted with relation to its pivot.V The other end of the arm 105 carries a set screw 108 (Fig. 2) which projects through an arcuate slot 109 formed in the sideframe. It is evident that by'loosening the set screw 108, the arm 105 can be turned about its f pivot, which movement,v due to the eccentric mounting of this arm, will adjust the thrust bar '101 slightly Vto the right .or left, as viewed in Fig. 2. If the adjusting arm 105 is rotated counter-clockwise toV the extent of the slot 109,y it can be seen that the thrust bar 101 will be rocked clockwise a short distance. Therefore, when the destination device is pressed downwardly, the parts will not have to travel to the same extent, as they would, if the adjustment was as shown in Fig. 2, before the shoulder 102 will pass out of or escape from contactwith the stud 103 to permit the platen tov move upwardly and take an impression.

Umisccutice number median/sm A consecutive number counter is provided and is operated on every operation of the machine. It consists of four counter wheels 110 loosely mounted on a shaft 111 supported by the side frame. rlhese counter wheels are visible to the operator through a glass plate 112 which covers an opening in the top of the cabinet.

Pivoted on the shaft 111 is a pawl carrier 113 which carries a differentially tined feeding pawl 114, the first tine of which cooperates with a ratchet wheel 115 fast on the units counter wheel. rihe pawl carrier 113 has a notch 116 formed therein, through which projects a pin 117 carried by an upwardly extending arm 118 of the bell crank lever 98. It will be recalled that the bell crank lever 98 is rocked first counter-clockwise, and then clockwise on every operation of the machine and, through its connection with the pawl carrier 113, this pawl carrier and the pawl 114 receives a clockwise and then a counter-clockwise rotation. On the clockwise rotation of the pawl carrier 113, the first tine of the pawl 114 turns the ratchet wheel 115 and the units counter wheel 110 one space. On the return movement of the pawl carrier 113, the pawl passes over the teeth of the ratchet. A ratchet similar to the ratchet 115 is fastened to the side of each of the counter wheels 110 and the transfer' from wheels of lower to those of higher denomination is effected by means of a transfer mechanism of the deep notch variety, which it is not believed to be necessary to describe herein. Cooperating with each of the ratchet wheels 115 is a spring pressed retaining pawl 120, pivotally mounted on a rod 121 (Figs. 1 and A knurled knob 122 is fast to the end of the shaft 111 and may be manually rotated when it is desired to reset the consecutive number counter to zero.

Operatz'oa The operation of this machine is eX- tremely simple. All that it is necessary for the auditor to do is to place the destination devices, one at a time, in position in the machine; press them down to their full extent, and remove them. The downward movement of the destination devices will cause the detail strip to be fed -to bring a blank space thereon into position to be printed on. This movement will also cause the impression to be made and the consecutive number counter to be actuated. As the devices are withdrawn, all of the parts are returned to their normal positions. When the operation is finished, the detail strip may be removed and it is evident that comparison of the strip With the strip printed on the last previous occasion, when the devices were audited, will show by the difference in the consecutive numbers of the devices of each station the number of tickets that have been issued to each station.

The ticket printing devices 30 are inserted and removed one by one through the opening in the casing of the auditing machine, and the upper prong of the forked ends of the arm 62, and bell crank 59 are shorter than the lower prongs thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, to prevent obstructing the insertion of the ticket printing devices. As a ticket device 30 is inserted in the casing, its laterally projecting pins 31 seat in the forks 61 and rock the bell crank 59 and arm 62 clockwise, inward travel of the ticket device being arrested by the feet at the lower ends of Jthe guides 36, which lie in the paths of the pins 31.

Gbviously, by the time the pins 31 have been arrested by the feet, the shoulder 102 of the thrust bar 101 has slipped off the stud 103 of the impression lever 97, which has rocked upwardly in clockwise direction under tension of the spring 106 to effect the printing, so that the stud 103 lies some distance above the shoulder 102 on the thrust bar 101.

Due to the arcuate travel of the paper feeding bell crank 59, and arm 62, the forks 61 thereof, have fitted themselves over the pins 31 on the ticket devices, so that as the ticket device 30 is withdrawn from the recess in the casing, the pins 31 rock the bell crank 59 and arm 62 in counter-clockwise direction to restore these elements, and as the bell crank 59 restores, it draws the thrust bar 101 upwardly until the shoulder 102 thereof lies above the stud 103, whereupon the spring 104 snaps the shoulder over the stud preparatory to the next operation.

Thile the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

That is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a record receiving medium, impression means, and a plurality of detachable devices, the insertion and depression of which directly actuates said impression means to produce an impression from said devices on said medium.

2. 1n a machine of the class described, the combination of strip feeding mechanism, a detachable device carrying type, and means directly actuated by the insertion and depression of said device for operating said feeding mechanism and taking an impression from said type.

8. In an auditing machine, the `combination of a plurality of detachable devices carrying type, a printing medium, means for feeding said medium, printing means cooperable with said type, a counter, and means directly actuated by the insertion and depression of any one of said devices for operating said printing and feeding means, and adding one unit to said counter.,

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an impression and feeding means, an insertable destination device, pins carried thereby, a bell crank lever actuated by one of 'said pins upon the insertion and depression of said'device, and means actuated by said bell crank for operating said impression and feeding means.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an impression and feeding means, an insertable destination device, pins carried thereby, a bell crank lever actuated by one of said pins upon the insertion and depression of said device, a segment gear carried by said lever, means actuated by said gear for operating said feeding means, a member pivoted to said lever, and means actuated by said member for actuating said impression means.

6. In a machine of the class described; the combination with a paper feeding mechanism enclosed in a casing; and a normally discharged impression means; of a type carrier insertable into and removable from the casing; and means directly operated by the type carrier as it is inserted into the casing to cock the impression means.

7 In a machine of the class described; the combination with a casing having an opening formed therein; paper feeding mechanism within the casing; and Vnormally discharged impressionmeans within the casing; of a type carrier insertable into and removable from the casing through the opening; and mechanism directly operated by the type carrier as it is inserted into the casing, to cock the impression means and to actuate the paper feed mechanism.

8. In a machine of the class described; the combination with a normally discharged impression means; of means to cock the impression means, said cocking means traversing a path tangent to the arcuate path traversed by the impression means whereby the impression means after being cocked escapes the cocking means to effect an imprint; a manually-operated member to actuate the cooking means; and an adjustable guide for said cooking means, the adjustment of which varies the point at which the impression means escapes the cooking means.

9. In a machine of the class-described; the combination with a normally discharged impression means; of a projection on the impression means, said projection traversing an arcuate path upon operation of said impression means; a thrust bar to cock the impression means, said thrust bar traversing a path tangent to the path of said projection; a shoulder on the thrust bar to contact the projection, whereby, after the impression means is cocked, the projection escapes the shoulder on the thrust bar to effect an imprint; a manually-operated member to actuate the thrust bar; and an eccentrically adjustable guide for the thrust bar, to varyv the point at which the projection escapes the thrust bar.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a normally discharged impression means; a vforked rocking member; a thrust member connected to the rocking member and adapted tocock and release the impression means; and an insertableV member adapted to engage the forked rocking member to shift the latter and the thrust member in opposite directions.

l1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a normally discharged impression means enclosed in a casing; a type carrier insertable and removable from the casing; and a device, directly operated by the type carrier as it is inserted into the casing to cock the impression means, and directly restored to normal position by the type carrier as the latter is removed from the casing.-

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination of paper feeding mechanism enclosed in a casing; a normally discharged impression means; means to cock the impression means; a device carrying the cocking means, and movable in one direction to operate the cooking means and the paper feeding mechanism, and in another direction to restore the cocking means and paper feeding mechanism to their normal positions; and a type carrier insertable into and removable from the casing, said type carrier, upon its insertion into the casing,.directly moves the cocking means carrying device in said one direction, an-d upon its removal from the casing positively moves said carrying device in the other direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VILLIAM H. ROBERTSON. 

